Author Archives: Alison Zak

Guess what senior notable award I won in high school… Nope, it wasn’t ‘Most likely to become a published author.’ And it wasn’t ‘Most likely to become a yogi.’ I was voted the ‘Most athletic’ female of my high school class. Yep, I played ‘the sports,’ to quote Glennon Doyle. I mostly use this factContinue reading “On THE SPORTS as Glennon would say…”

“May we take our practice from the mat into the world and treat other beings the way we’ve just treated ourselves. Thank you for practicing with me.“ That’s what I say. So, can you still say ‘namaste?’ If you are looking for a simple yes or no answer, I am here to disappoint. No oneContinue reading “What I Say Instead of ‘Namaste’”

My biggest question in this life here on earth is: How can we share our lives and habitats with other animals? I explore this question through yoga in Wild Asana. In addition to writing and teaching yoga, I am also the founder and director of the Human-Beaver Coexistence Fund (HBCF), which has been around forContinue reading “Dam, I Started a Nonprofit Two Years Ago!”

You don’t need a big, flashy yoga origin story. I did not always accept this so easily. I felt guilty that it wasn’t true for me, and out of place in my yoga teacher training because my journey so far had been slow and seemingly insignificant compared to the stories of my teachers and peers.Continue reading “Yoga Doesn’t Need to Have Saved Your Life”

Many years ago, I learned how to be a good literary citizen from books like Carolyn See’s Making a Literary Life and podcasts like #AmWriting. The first time I ever reached out to an author that I admired was in 2007. I sent an email to Janis Huggins about how much I loved her bookContinue reading “10 Ways to Support Your Favorite Authors”

This piece was originally posted on the OneNature blog on October 12, 2022. I saw my first spotted lanternfly recently. The insect flew onto another woman’s leg where I saw it alive on her bare skin. Then she knocked it to the ground as her child asked, “Can I squash it?”  I heard the stomp.Continue reading “Holding Space for Contradiction in Conservation”

I read 112 books this year. That includes kids’ books, because they are books too! How do I keep count? On StoryGraph– the non-Amazon version of Goodreads. Here are my favorite books that I READ in 2022, in no particular order. Each title is linked to Bookshop.org, a great non-Amazon alternative for online book buying thatContinue reading “My Favorite Books of 2022”

It is said that everyone has a turtle story… Long ago, after a violent storm, sailors clung to chunks of splintered wood, the remaining bits of their wrecked ship. Cold, thirsty, and weakening with every crest and trough of the waves, they floated in the infinite sea. As night fell, one sailor gave up, releasedContinue reading “Turtle Story: Jataka Retelling”

Question: If you could be any animal, who would you be? Depending on my mood, I answer either ‘kingfisher’ or ‘osprey.’ I want the relative security of predator status without the burden of hunting furry food. (I don’t like eating peaches with the skin on, but I sure miss Vishu’s baked salmon!) I want toContinue reading “Answer: Osprey”

‘Tis the season for my annual book list! PSA: Whenever possible, PLEASE support local, independent bookstores, instead of Amazon, as you shop for books this holiday season. I will link all the titles below to Bookshop.org which is a great way to shop online while still supporting indies. As always, these are books I readContinue reading “The Almost Anthropologist’s Favorite Books of 2021”

As an environmental educator and yoga teacher, I LOVE incorporating mindfulness practices into nature programs. I believe that encouraging mindfulness outside helps students of all ages to become present in both time and place. Sometimes it’s as simple as having a quiet moment out on the hiking trail to listen for birds. Other times IContinue reading “Yoga & Mindfulness Resources for Environmental Educators”

Mandala is the Sanskrit word for CIRCLE. Mandalas are used in many of the world’s cultures and religions as devotional images that symbolize the universe in its ideal form. The creation of a mandala signifies the transformation of a universe of suffering into one of joy. There are examples of mandalas in nature as well,Continue reading “Earth Mandalas: Practicing Mindfulness in Nature”